Apparatus for burning gaseous fuel



5 Sheds-Sheet; 1.

Patentd Mig?. 9, 1886.

F. PHILIPS. APPARATUS POR BURNING G-Asous FUEL.

(No Mqdel.)

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

F. PHILIPS. APPARATUS POU BURNING UASEUUS FUEL.

No. 337,516. Patented Mar. 9, 1886.

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N. PETERS, Pham-mmmpher. washmgm. n. c.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

P'. PHILIPS. APPARATUS POR BURNING GASBOUS FUEL. No. 337,516. Patented Mar. 9, 1886.

N. PETERS. Phamumugmpher. wnshngtun. D. C.

(No Model.)

5 Sheets-Shea# 4. P. PHILIPS.

APPARATUS FOR BURNING GASEOUS FUEL.

Patented Mar. 9, 1886.

QU b (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

UNITED STATES Aren-rr erica..

FERDINAND PHILIPS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR BURNING VGASEOUS FUEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 337,516, dated March 9. 1886` Application filed June 18, 1884.

To all whom it may concern.' e

Be it known that I, FERDINAND PHILIPS, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Burning Gaseous Fuel Under Boilers, Kilns, Furnaces, 85o., of which improvement the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part hereof.

My invention appertains to the use of gaseous fuel in connection with furnaces, 85o., when the well-known regenerative system is not available-that is to say, where the waste products of combustion are not sufciently hot to effect any preheating ci the incoming gas and air, such preheating constituting as is well understood the element essential to thelmost perfect combustion of the gaseous As instances of the application lof my invention, I have shown in the accompanying drawings its operation in connection with a tubular boiler, and with a horizontal sectional boiler, and with a kiln for annealing wire, as hereinafter more fully explained with reference to said drawings, respectively. Heretofore there has been but little done in this system of firing such boilers, Snc., with gaseous fuel, and when it has been done the gas has generally been taken from a blast-furnace, or more recently it has been natural gas from a bored well. In most cases, so far as I know, the gas has been led under the boilers into the space between the boiler and the floor of thepboiler-house, while the airis letin through openings in the front wall of the boiler furn`a`ce, and they are thus brought together directly under the boiler or in the furnace itself, thev combustion thus induced of course heating the boiler as far as practicable under such conditions, but much of the heat generated being absorbed by the floor of the boilerhouse;` and it is obvious that this involves a very considerable loss of even the cheapest by-product, as the gas from the blast-furnace, while it is notably wasteful in cases when the gas is made from fuel in a producer, or is obtained from the even more costly source of a bored well.

As heretofore commonly used, in the ab- Serial No. 135,974. (No model.)

` cation of gaseous fuel in such cases as I have indicated.

The combustible gas obtained from the gasproducer is generally mixed with about twothirds of incombustible matter, and air contains about eighty per cent. of incombustible matter. The gas and theair being each thus greatly` diluted and their affinity for each other weakened, they do not mingle with avidity when brought together at low temperature and in full volume, but require to be mixed in their streams or jets and under the energetic action of heat. On this fact I have based my invention, the iirst part of which consists in introducing the gas and air into a combustion-chamber, which is so placed above the gas and air inlet culverts that the entire area of its bottom is utilized for radiating heat downward into these culverts. This heat is taken up by the gas and air during their passage through these culverts.

The highly-heated bottom of the combustion -chamber is provided (according to its form) either with a narrow annular slit or with a series of narrow slits for the air and with another similar slit or series of slits for the gas,

the ail` and gas slits intersecting each other. The thin streams of air and gas entering the combustion chamber through these highlyheated slits are thus made to cross each other and to be so thoroughly mingled at high heat as they enter the combustion-chamber that they are energetically ignited and consumed in a most efficient manner.

It will be obvious that the combustion-chamber becomes very highly heated in all its parts, and that its bottom, which I purposely construct of as thin a layer or series of arches of ICO refractory material as is consistent with durability, will cause the incoming air and gas,

while yet in the underlying culverts to absorb considerable heat. which is still further increased dnringtheir entrance. through the narrow slits in the highly'heated bottom of the combustion-chamber,whereby I. establish all the conditions requisite for the economical use oi gaseous fuelthat is to say,Iint1-oduee the gas and air in thin streams and at a high temperature. I mingle them very thoroughly in the combastionchamber, so as to induce the most thorough combustion and to derive more heat from a given amount ot gas and air.

In order to still further enhance the econ omy of my improved apparatus and to prevent the escapeof any-unburned gases into the chimney, I provide the second part of my invention-that is to say, instead of conducting the products ot' combustion ont of the coinluistionchamber in one mass or volume, ashas heretofore been practiced, I pass these hot products,together with any uneonsumcd gas that may still be present, through the numerous outlet-openings iu the highly-heated sides or root', or both,of the combustionchamber,from which they pass into the space immediately under the boiler or around the kiln (see Fig. 6) or into the furnace, as the case may be. y

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l, Sheet l, is a vertical section of an upright boiler with myimprovements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section above the com` bustiOnchambei-onthelinexmofFig. l. Fig. 3, Sheet 2. is a vertical longitmlinal section through a horizontal boiler, coml'mstzion cham` ber, gasvinlet valve, main gas-flue, and gasuptake. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section through the combustion chamber on the liney/ y ofFig. 3. Fig. 5, Sheet 3. is a horizontal plan of Fig. 3, partlyin section, on the lines z e, c U, and a a ot' Fig. 4. Fig. 6, Sheet 4, shows a vertical section of a wireannealing kiln embodying the same principles of construction and operation. Fig. 7 is a section on the line a u of Fig. G. Fig. 8. Sheet `5, is a front view ofthe same kiln; and Fig. 9

is a section on the lines t r r t. of Fig. t.

Similar letters indicate similar parts in all the figures.

The gas coming from the main gas-supply a passes through a valve, Z1, in a small culvert, c, and enters the combustion chamber c through a single narrow annular opening, d, in the bottom of this chamber, as in Fig. l, Sheet i, and Fig. 6, Sheet 4, or through a series of narrow slits, d, asin Figs. 3, 4, and 5, in the bottom of the combustion-chamber e. rlhe air necessary for combustion is supplied by draft or blast through one or more openings, f, and proceeds to the combustionchamber e through a narrow annular slit or through a series of narrow slits, g. Figs. 4 and 5, in a similar way as the gas, these airinlets intersecting the gas-inlets. as shown. in order to insure a thorough admixture of the two currents thus passing into the con1bus tion-chamber. Y

The combustion-chamber e is provided with numerous,outlet-openings, i, throughits sides or roof, or distributed over both, oi suitable aggregate area relative to that of the inletopenings and with reference to the general proportions of the combustion -chambcr, to prevent back-pressa re of the expanding gases.

I have adopted as an approximate rule an aggregate outlet-area four times that ot' the combined gas and air inlets. Through these outlets the products of combustion together with any unconsumed gas passfrom the combustionchamber into the space immediately under the boiler or around the kiln (see Fig. t5) or into the furnace, as the case may be, and in this space the combustion is completed. It will thus be seen that the unconsumed gases in passing with the products of combustion through the numerous highly-heated outletolieniugs are further mixed with heated air and also absorb further heat from the sides of these openings, so that they come to the boiler. kiln, or furnace in the best possible condition t'or thorough consumption. As the combustionchamber gets hotter and hotter, the tloor of this chamber, which is at the same time the root' of the and air inlet culverts, ot' course absorbs heat from the combustion in the chamber itself, and treats the incoming air and gas, which consequently burn with more energy and I )erfectiou ot' combustion than heretofore. Any unburned portions of the gases issue from the chamber e in a thoroughly-mingled and highly-heated state through the iutensely-heatcd openings I1, and are thus subjected to the most coniplete combustion above the same, and inunediately under the boiler, kiln, hearth, or furnace, as the case may be.

Having thus described the nature and ob jects of my invention, I do not wish to be uuderstood as claiming, broadly, a combustionchamher interposed between the air and gas tunnels and the furnace or boiler, for promoting the mixture, ignition, and combustion of gaseous fuel, as such a combustionchamber has been before used; but

Vifhat I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In an apparatus for generating heat by means of gaseous fuel, the alternate parallel tunnels for gas and air, divided by narrow partitioawalls having outlet openings for gas and air, respectively, lying directly opposite to and intersecting each other, in combination with a combustionchamber made of refractory material interposed between said tunnels and the boiler, kiln, or furnace in such a manner that the entire roof of said gas and air tunnels form part of the interior of the combustion-chamber, said combustionchamber being provided with outlet-openings of prescribed area, and all arranged substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

FEltDlNAND PHILIPS.

Witnessesz CHAnLns F. ZiEeLnn, J. W. DoUeLnss.

IIO

It is hereby eertied that in Letters Patent No. 337,516, granted March 9,'1886, upon the application of Ferdinand Philips, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for an improvenient in Apparatus for Burning Gaseous Fuel, errors appear in the printed lspecification requiring correction, as follows: In lines 14, 3l and 4S, page l, the Word when should be stricken out Wherever the sanle oeeurs andthe Word where inserted; in line 7 6, saine page, the word their should be stricken out and the Word thin inserted; in line 95, page 2, the word treats should be stricken out and the Word heats inserted instead; and that the Letters Patent should loe read With these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed,countersigned, and sealed this 23d day of March, A. D. 1886.

' H. L. MULDROW,

[SEAL] Acting Secretary of the Interior.

Countersigned M. V. MONTGOMERY,

Commissioner of Patents. 

